HP EliteBook 8440w Review
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The HP EliteBook 8440w is a smaller model when compared with other laptops from the EliteBook line-up, but it’s certainly not one of the weaker ones. Small and powerful is not a combo that you see often in the laptop world, since the best components generally need more space, thanks in part to their increased heat exchange. That’s why the 8440w is remarkable, because HP managed to install a i7 processor in a 14 inch laptop, making for a powerful machine with a small footprint. You can easily call this model a mobile workstation, with a good processor, decent graphics and an enclosure that is rugged. If you’re a mobile professional that enjoys a good build quality, style and good performances, then HP was probably thinking about you when they designed this model.
The build quality of the EliteBook 8440w is quite good and since it’s quite an expensive one, it was to be expected. The laptop is built with the MIL-STD 810G military standards in mind and you can easily see it when you look at it.
As you look at the laptop you will notice the integrated speakers, the SD card reader, a DVD burner, Ethernet, a USB 2.0/eSATA combo port and a modem. The rear of the laptop offers you the DisplayPort, VGA, power input, the audio ports, mini-FireWire, ExpressCard slot and the USB 2.0 ports. The keyboard has in the middle a tracking pointer, something you usually see in the Lenovo ThinkPad laptops.
In heavy tests, the battery life was a bit over 2 hours, which isn’t stellar when you consider that the battery has 9 cells. While it’s lower than what we would expect from it, the number is still decent and the laptop offers a good compromise between performances and battery life.
During tests with SiSoftware SANDRA, the laptop did well against similar competitors, in large thanks to the powerful processor, which is the Core i7-620. The hard drive runs at 7200rpm and it performed quite well and both light gaming and 1080p multimedia playback were good. The graphics card is the Quadro FX380M, which isn’t very powerful, so you can’t compare the model with the desktop GPU’s or the mobile workstations with higher price points.
When all things are considered, this HP laptop is a real winner. This thing is a combination of a mobile workstation with a consumer notebook, thanks to its size and powerful processor. It has less than 5 pounds weight and it’s quite mobile at 14 inches, so you can easily carry it around. The design is a rugged one, which offers protection from vibration, shocks and even a bit of water, so you don’t risk a lot when you spill your coffee on its keyboard.
The combo between the Core I7 processor and the Quadro FX380M graphics allows you to do well both with everyday tasks and professional applications when needed.
The regular user will be very satisfied with everything the HP EliteBook 8440w which is one of the best laptops 2010 and offers, from the powerful CPU, to the graphics card which is capable of light gaming and multimedia playback at Full HD quality to the RAM which is more than sufficient.
